Epic of Caterpillar
Epic of Caterpillar - Chapter 4: Evolution, Servant and The River Emperor!

[Day 7]

When I woke up this morning it felt as if my body became lighter for some reason.

『Hmm… That was a weird dream… Huh?!』

[Ding!]

[Congratulations! You have successfully evolved into an Undine Butterfly]

[Your level has been reset to level 1/20]

[You are now able to use the power of titles]

[You are now able to level up certain skills]

[You can now use MP and Magic and increase its maximum value by leveling up]

[You've obtained the following titles]

[Loved by Water Spirits]

[River Queen]

[You've learned the following skills]

[Mana Usage]

[Basic Water Magic: Level 1]

[Basic Water Manipulation: Level 1]

[Basic Magic Water Shield: Level 1]

[Summon Lower Water Being (Slime): Level 1]

After being surprised by such incredibly good news I couldn't contain my joy and began to scream like a lunatic

『This is it! I really evolved! Amazing! Amazing! Look at me! I'm such a beautiful butterfly now! Such beautiful blue colored wings and my 6 little limbs!』

While flying with my wings as if I always knew how to do it I realized the stupidity of my appearance

『Haaa~!… Wait a second! Why am I so happy?! I'm a man! Why do I look so feminine?! And[River Queen]?! What do you mean? Don't change my sex out of anywhere Mysterious Voice! Hey!』

While frustrated by this mysterious entity toying with my life a system message popped out of thin air.

[Ding!]

[System Master: ######## has granted you a name]

[Your new name is: Kireina]

Surprised by this news I could feel a max between happiness and extreme anger filling my heart.

『Hey… Wait a second… Kireina…?』

I immediately remembered that Kireina means beautiful in Japanese!

『Are you toying with me, you bastard Mysterious Voice?! Is this all just a game for you!?』

Out of nowhere, another system message appeared in my sight.

[Ding!]

[Thanks to your new name you are now able to do several things, alongside receiving new bonuses]

[You now gain double XP]

[You now have access to more options in the Evolution Menu]

[Your skills now level up faster]

[After certain conditions are accomplished you will be able to choose a class]

[You can grant your minions a name for similar benefits]

『I see… So even if it's a horrible name it grants me some nice things… Sigh… So much info in my head… Ugh… I need to swallow all of this slowly. For now, let's look at my status』

[Name: Kireina

[Class: None

[Race: Undine Butterfly

[Level: 1/20[XP: 078/400[Status: Full

[HP: 35/35[MP: 50/50[Stamina: 154/120

[Strength: 21

[Defense: 23

[Magic: 32

[Resistance: 28

[Speed: 32

[Charisma: 15

[Luck: -2

I immediately noticed a substantial increase in all of my stats.

『Guaah! This is amazing! All of my stats increased! How can a butterfly have more strength than a caterpillar, to begin with?』

While flying around my nest analyzing my stats I realized something very important.

『Impressive! I can even use magic now! And my charisma became a positive value! However, my luck is still at -2… Does that mean that negative things will still happen to me anyway? No way…』

I flapped around and started to eat some of the fish left from yesterday. The delicious and juicy fish flavor filled my mouth.

『Hahahaha! This is a nice meal to celebrate my evolution!』

While eating I glanced at my status window.

『Now… My older skills started to show their actual levels… So I was right, after all, my Weak Bite is at level 10? It's because I used it too much I guess… And Weak Thread Manipulation is at level 7, as expected from a thread expert like myself! I wonder if skills can evolve to get stronger versions of themselves? Like Weak Thread Manipulation to something like Strong Thread Manipulation! But it's still not maxed yet… Wait my Weak Bit is at max level and it hasn't evolved! So lame! So kills don't evolve…』

[Ding!]

[System Master: ######## has approved your suggestion]

[You can now evolve skills at max level]

[The skill: Weak Bite has successfully evolved into skill: Strong Bite]

[Strong Bite: Use your strong jaws to bite the target. Cost: 1 Stamina]

『Huh? Wait… System Master?! This is Mysterious Voice, right? Why would he do that? What's his purpose in helping me out? Sigh, I bet he's plotting something to make me suffer even more! You bastard!... But thanks, I guess, hahaha… Hey! Say something! Are you trying to make me look like a crazy person now?! Talking to myself like I always… Do… Sigh… Anyways! Time to test out my new power, let's head to the West River!』

While I was flying over to the West River I noticed how easy it was to fly with my little butterfly wings.

『I feel like I was born with these wings from the beginning, it's so easy to fly and I barely use any stamina, it's very convenient!』

While flying I began to wonder why I became an Undine Butterfly.

『What was the exact reason for my evolving into this type of butterfly specifically? I barely remember something about different evolution choices… I think the other ones were GIant Caterpillar and Lower fairy…』

When I thought about it for a second, I suddenly realized that I had chosen the best evolution without even realizing it. A Giant Caterpillar would have been too much trouble and I would have become a giant bait waiting to be devoted, while Lower Fairy seems fine, I could be hunted by humans perhaps. A silent butterfly was really the better choice in the end.

『But why did I get this choice, to begin with?』

I thought about the possibility of being that I ate too many fish and obtained the Water Affinity skill. It seemed to be the most logical answer at this point. This means that evolutions are heavily influenced by the user's current skills and affinities.

I flew close to the river and began to activate my skills. Basic Water Magic and Basic Water Manipulation seem to work well together. These skills give me the power to control a certain amount of water mass. Both skills cost 5 MP and 5 Stamina when being used together but thanks to my Water Affinity related skills, my control over water is doubled in power.

Mana Usage seems to be a passive skill that lets me use mana more swiftly and lowers the MP consumption of any type of magic permanently.

Basic Magic Water Shield seems to be an active buff that I can leave indefinitely over my entire body, it pretty much works as a second hp bar, taking damage for me until it breaks. I can also choose to let it absorb my MP to regenerate itself automatically

『This one seems awesome! My HP is pretty much doubled with it, but it sucks so much MP if left to auto regenerate, so I guess it's a fair skill in that sense… Now to the most interesting one...』

Summon Lower Water Being (Slime) lets me summon one water being, they look like little slimes made of water, after some testing, it seems to be able to level up on its own and can be alive as long as they have enough water. Each summons costs 20MP but being able to finally have some minions is worth it. This time I only summoned one water being and I named it Rimuru!

「Rimuru! Show me your stats!」

The little pale blue colored slime waved its watery body in affirmation.

「Guuuu!」

[Ding!]

[Name: Rimuru

[Class: None

[Race: Lower Water Being (Slime)

[Level: 1/10[XP: 0/100[Status: Full

[HP: 25/25[MP: 30/30[Stamina: 100/100

[Strength: 19

[Defense: 18

[Magic: 24

[Resistance: 18

[Speed: 23

[Charisma: 2

[Luck: 0

[Skills:[Blessing of the Undine][Pure Water Being][Basic Water Regeneration]

[Water Shot][Servant Affinity][Water Affinity]

[Titles:[Named Servant]

I was surprised by Rimuru's high stats that completely beating my caterpillar form.

「What? You are better than me when I was a caterpillar!? You could have easily killed me!... Buahahaha! But you are my loyal servant now! Feel honored Rimuru, you are the first servant of whom will become the strongest!」

Rimuru moved its little water body, adorably jumping.

「Guuurururu!」

I could barely resist such cuteness! This is the power of a Slime! I immediately went towards Rimuru and hugged it with my tiny butterfly legs.

「Uuuah! You're so cute!」

Rimuru seemed to like my hugs and waved its body trying to give me one back.

「Guururu!」

「Well, now that I got you I won't feel alone anymore… Go train for now!」

「Guuu!」

While I left Rimuru to train catching walking fish, I looked up the effects of my titles.

『Hmm let's see…』

[First Kill in the New World: Congratulations on surviving a life and death situation! +1 to Strength, Defence, and Speed.]

[Trash Eater: A title given to those who like to eat trash. Max Stamina +10]

[Merciless Aquatic Killer: You are a merciless fish killer! Don't you feel ashamed of your cheap tactics? +5 extra damage to Aquatic Beings]

[King of the River: You killed the River King and now you are the new one! Congratulations! +2 to Strength, Defence, and Speed.]

[Loved by Water Spirits: You have been blessed by the Water Spirits. +10 Affinity to any water-related skills.]

[River Queen: You are the new and beautiful Queen of the River, congratulations my Queen! +10 to any water-related skills and grants total domination over Rivers.]

I felt as if the System itself was making fun of me.

『Hmm… Hahaha… Very funny Mysterious Voice… Very funny… Let's see Rimuru's one.』

[Named Servant: You have been named by a strong being! Congratulations Rimuru! Your XP gained is doubled and you can easily level up skills! Master affinity +10.]

『Wait so naming any minion will grant them all these benefits? That's unfair… Well anyways, time to check on Rimuru's hunt…』

Just before my sight, Rimuru was over a pile of more than 10 walking fish! Rimuru showed a proud expression, almost asking to be patted by me.

「Hahaha, you really are a monster Rimuru! Well done! Here(pat) here(pat).」

To the response of my pats, Rimuru waved its body again.

「Guuu!」

[Ding!]

[Create a Party with: Servant Rimuru? You will be designated as the Party Leader]

[>Yes No]

「What? Party? What does that do?」

[Ding!]

[Creating a Party gives you the following benefits]

[Shared XP]

[Know the location of your Party Members]

[The ability to use command related skills on Party Members if you are designated Party Leader]

[Shared drop items and Reward Gifts]

「So that's how it is! Alright, then Rimuru! Let's make a party! Select Yes!」

[Ding!]

[You have successfully created a party with: Servant Rimuru]

[You've gained 345 XP from what Rimuru has gained]

[You've gained: 1 level]

[Level: 2/20 XP: 23/450]

「I never expected that it would be so easy to level up now! Rimuru! Keep hunting more walking fishes! Wait… wouldn't that be too easy now? Should I be worried? I have a minus two luck stat, after all, nothing can be so easy… W-Wait Rimuru come here!」

「Guuuuu?」

Without warning a massive River King came out of the water and attacked Rimuru!

「Gluuuuooop!」

「Geeeeh! I knew it! Rimuru! Get back here! Let me handle it!」

「Guuuurururu!」

Rimuru swiftly retreated behind me.

「Alright you bastard! I don't fear the likes of you anymore! Time for some Basic Water Magic and Water Shot!」

Both skills appeared above me as lumps of blue light easily combining together and creating a stronger Water Shot, firing straight towards the River King. The Magic Water Shot flying as fast as the wing hit the River King right in the middle of its head killing it in one shot!

「Headshot! Nice! I will name that combination skill:[Magic Water Shot]! That's what he gets for trying to eat my servant! Are you okay, Rimuru?」

[Guuuu!]

Rimuru got closer to me and hugged my lower abdomen, its water body expanding and encasing my abdomen, giving me heavy tickles.

「Hahaha! H-Hey! Stop that, don't be so consented you little blob! Hahahahaha!」

[You've gained: 523 XP]

[You've gained: 1 level]

[Level 3/20 XP 96/500]

[Party Member: Servant Rimuru gained: 261 XP]

[Party Member: Servant Rimuru gained: 1 level]

[Level 6/10 XP 12/300]

Before I could even check out Rimuru's new stats, two more River Kings jumped out of the river!

「What? What's wrong with these bastards? They all want to die and rebel against me, the River King?! (Or Queen) Hahaha! Useless!」

Two powerful Magic Water Shots later the two River Kings bodies fell to the ground motionless.

「Haha! Nice shot!」

[You've gained: 1045 XP]

[You've gained: 2 levels]

[Level 5/20 XP 91/600]

[Party Member: Servant Rimuru gained: 523 XP]

[Party Member: Servant Rimuru gained: 1 level]

[Level 7/10 XP 235/350]

After the commotion, another River King came out, this one was the biggest that I have seen! It was completely covered in bright orange scales, it had two very long whiskers, a strong pair of muscular limbs, and a beautiful crest-like fin on its back. It looked fierce and angry!

「Oh? Are you the final boss of this River? The King of Kings! I'll call you River Emperor! Alright! Bring it on!」

As if enraged by my provocation the River Emperor activated all his active buffs and boosted his stat to the sky! An incredible pressure affected us, as I looked down the River Emperors' body had almost doubled in size and his entire body was covered in muscles and veins!

「Gluuuooooooooohh!」

In a mere second, the River Emperor disappeared out of my sight!

「What?! Where did it go? How can it be so fast?」

A second after I felt a strong force strike me in the back! It was the River Emperor with a sneak attack, it sent me flying directly into an old tree. The strong force of my crash split the tree in half.

「Gyaaaaahhh!」

The strong attack made me spit up dark green colored blood!

「This is bad! This guy is completely in another league! If it wasn't for my Water Magic Armor I would have been dead! Rimuru! Distract him while I cast a strong Water spell!」

「Guuuu!」

Rimuru began to consume a large amount of stamina to increase its speed by almost twice! Its incredible speed surprised the Emperor. Rimuru, using its full speed created after images surrounding the Emperor confusing the gigantic walking fish. The fish wasn't able to even land a hit on Rimuru at its full speed! Taking advantage of this Rimuru started to fire water bullets from all directions!

「GUUU!」

Blood started to shoot out of the River Emperor's body while it yelled in pain.

「Gluoooooh!」

「Well done! Hang in there for a little longer Rimuru! I'm almost… Ready…!」

While Rimuru distracted the Emperor, I tried to make a concentration of spells instead of firing them right away. Due to this, a big concentration of water accumulated over my head, I used almost all of my MP and Stamina but I was sure that this single attack would one-shot the River Emperor!

「Hehehehe! I'll show you how much I have improved this week! Combining Basic Water Elemental Magic, Basic Water Manipulation and Water Shot!���

I began to shape the big mass of water into a long stick with a sharp end.

「I will call it… Water Spear!」

Cutting through the air the gigantic water spear was shot from over my head, it had the power of at least 40 water bullets and it cost all of my MP and Stamina, if I didn't kill the River Emperor right now I would be completely dead! Thankfully the water spear went right through its head, cutting it in half! The water spear was so strong that it kept destroying the trees ahead of me for at least 50 meters.

[You've gained: 2069 XP]

[You've gained: 3 levels]

[Level 8/20 XP 156/750]

[Party Member: Servant Rimuru gained: 1035 XP]

[Party Member: Servant Rimuru gained: 2 levels]

[Level 9/10 XP 70/500]

[Certain requirements have been accomplished]

[You've learned a new skill]

[Water Spear: Level 1]

「Phew… Hahaha! We did it Rimuru! Leveling up may heal my HP and MP, but Stamina doesn't get recovered…. I'm so tired… Haaah… Rimuru…? W-where are you?! RIMURU!」

No matter how much I called, Rimuru wouldn't respond, as if he was completely gone. Even more, for some reason, everything stayed still and I couldn't hear anything or feel anything.

「What's going on? It's like time stopped? Eh?」

Ahead of me, a humanoid figure made of light stared at me.

「So you have come this far」

「Who are you…? T-that voice… You are that bastard! Mysterious Voice!」

The humanoid figure laughed with a playful voice.

「Hahaha, I'm glad you recognize this voice, but it's no more than a simulation, I don't really have a voice at all, this is all in your mind. Anyways, do you like the name I gave you?」

「Of course, I don't, you bastard! What do you think I am?!」

「It's just that such beautiful wings captivated me! Hahaha… Kireina was a fitting name for an otaku like you after all!」

「Y-you bastard! It's all your fault! That I died and that I reincarnated into a stupid bug!」

The humanoid figure shrugged while raising its arms.

「No… not really, you died from a very bad fever caused by a common virus in your original world, it was completely your fault! Hahahaha! Anyways, I already got bored of picking on you, just get stronger and enjoy this world, it's waaay bigger than you can imagine. When you get stronger I'll talk to you again about some important business. Bye.」

「Oi! Are you really leaving just like that?! Oi! Wait, you bastard!」

「Guuuuuu!」

And just like that, time started flowing normally and I found Rimuru on top of my body licking me.

「Ah… That bastard… What does he really want? What does he mean by business?」

「Guuu?」

「Ah! Rimuru! I'm fine… Anyway, let's head to the nest! I'll show it to you!」

「Guuuuruuuu!」

With Rumuru's help, I wrapped the River Emperor's body with my threads and we headed back to my nest. Rimuru was surprised because of how everything looked. In the nest I made it a little bed to rest on, it seems it doesn't really need water that much. Well, if it ever felt like it was drying out I can always spray it with some water made with magic. I spent the rest of the day eating the delicious meat of the river Emperor, it tasted like very high-quality salmon from my world. Each time I munched on it I felt as if I were in heaven. I wanted to see if Rimuru could eat something other than water so I chopped off a big piece of meat and offered it to Rimuru.

「Guuuuru?」

「Here, you can eat it」

「Guuuu!」

Rimuru obediently began to digest the meat, walking over it until the meat was completely inside its body and then slowly started to dissolve it.

「I see…. So that's how you eat huh, very typical of Slimes! So, how does it taste?」

「Guguguguuuu!」

「Haha, you like it? Good blob! Here have another piece, it's too much for me to eat in one day anyways」

Rimuru slowly absorbed the meat until it was completely dissolved. Then suddenly, a system message popped out surprising me.

[Ding!]

[Party Member: Servant Rimuru learned the following skills]

[River Emperor Iron Body]

[High Water Affinity]

It seems my power can be shared with my servants, allowing them to obtain skills from consumed monsters.

「I see… So, the blessing can be shared… But wait! Why haven't I got those skills? Should I eat more? Rimuru needed such a small quantity to learn them! That's pretty cheat Rimuru! I'm not giving you any more meat!」

「Guuuuuu!」

After eating almost half of the massive River Emperor body, I finally got the new skills.

[You've obtained a new title: River Emperor]

[You've learned the following skills]

[River Emperors Iron Body]

[River Emperors Incredible Endurance]

[River Emperors Pressure]

[Control Minions]

[Very High Water Affinity]

「Hohoho! So, these are the skills that bastard was using this whole time! I can see why he had such a sturdy body that was able to take so many water bullets from Rimuru as if it was nothing! Now they're all mine! Thanks for the meal River Emperor! Mwahahaha!」

Browsing through the skills one, in particular, took my attention.

「Control Minions? Let's see…」

[Control Minions: Needs to act in combination with River Emperors Pressure to successfully make weaker beings your minions, after making a weaker being your minion you can give it orders and add it to your party.]

「I see! It's pretty much enslavement! Hahaha! So that's why the other River Kings were attacking us recklessly! It was all that bastard command! I see! I see! Let's see what those other River Emperor related skills do…」

[River Emperors Iron Body: (Active skill) For a set amount of time increase your Strength, Defense, and Speed by +20. Cost: 25 Stamina]

[River Emperors Incredible Endurance: (Passive Skill) (Permanent) Damage is reduced by 5%]

[River Emperor Pressure: (Active skill) For a set amount of time you can produce an incredible pressure that makes any weaker being tremble in fear! High chance to paralyze target, it also increases the chances of making a minion obey you]

[Title: River Emperor: A title given to those who have defeated the current River Emperor! Water affinity +20, increase the chance of successfully making a minion by 10% (As long as you own this Title, no more River Emperor type monsters can generate in the area: West River)]

「Haaah... So much info! These Skills are incredibly convenient! I can already feel the power flowing through my veins! This will help a lot tomorrow when we start slave collecting! Hahaha!」

While resting on my bed, I looked over Rimuru, who waved its body.

「Very well, tomorrow we are going to hunt some slaves Rimuru! Now let's check out our status before sleep, STATUS!」

[Name: Kireina

[Class: None

[Race: Undine Butterfly

[Level: 8/20[XP: 156/750[Status: Full

[HP: 43/43[MP: 66/66[Stamina: 187/120 (+10)

[Strength: 29 (+3)

[Defense: 31 (+3)

[Magic: 40

[Resistance: 36

[Speed: 40 (+3)

[Charisma: 19

[Luck: -2

「Heh! Look at these amazing stats Rimuru! This is your master! Amazing! It's completely different than when I was a Caterpillar!」

Rimuru was amazed by my power and gave little jumps.

「Sigh… So much happened today, from evolving to making my first new servant and friend in this world and also fighting the final boss of the River… Yet I somehow want more of this, I really want to fight stronger opponents and get stronger! I want to see how big this world really is… If Mysterious Voice is right… Then, there's still so much for me to see and experience…」

Rimuru came closer to me and started jumping over my abdomen.

「Guuguuuguuu!」

「Guaaaahh! W-What do you want, Rimuru?! What? Your status? Okay, okay! I'll see it! Show me Rimuru, STATUS!」

[Name: Rimuru

[Class: None

[Race: Lower Water Being (Slime)

[Level: 9/10[XP: 70/500[Status: Full

[HP: 34/34[MP: 39/39[Stamina: 123/100

[Strength: 28

[Defense: 27

[Magic: 33

[Resistance: 27

[Speed: 32

[Charisma: 5

[Luck: 0

「Uoooh! Rimuru you're keeping up with me just fine! You're an amazing little blob!」

「Guuuu!」

Rimuru jumped even more over my abdomen.

「Guuaak! Hey you know you're actually pretty heavy? Don't do that! Now go to your bed, it's time to sleep! Goodnight Rimuru.」

「Guuu!」

Rimuru obediently went to its little bed and closed its eyes.